The Answer That Came Too Fast

Chapter 1The Hand in the Air

Rebbi drew a small square on the board and divided it into four equal parts.

"If one part is shaded, what fraction is shaded?"

Avrumi knew. His hand went up.

"One quarter!" called Pinny.

Rebbi nodded and turned to the next example.

Avrumi lowered his hand.

That had happened yesterday, too. Pinny's answer arrived before Avrumi's hand was even halfway up.

By the third question, Avrumi left both hands on his desk. He knew the answer, but knowing did not seem to help him say it.

Chapter 2The Blank Space

On the practice page, Avrumi wrote the first answer quickly.

He was slower on the second. That picture had eight parts instead of four.

Across the aisle, Pinny was already turning his page over.

Avrumi stared at his own blank space.

Maybe the first answers had only been easy ones. Maybe he did not know this work as well as he thought.

He counted the equal parts again. Three were shaded.

He wrote three eighths.

Then he put his pencil down, although there were two questions left.

Chapter 3In the Hallway

After class, Avrumi waited until Rebbi had finished speaking to another boy.

"I had my hand up," Avrumi said.

"For which question?"

"The quarters. And the next one. Pinny answered before you could call on anyone."

Rebbi set down the papers he was carrying.

"Thank you for telling me. I need to give the boys time to think and take turns."

Avrumi looked down at his shoes.

"Could you call on me sometimes?"

"Yes. Finish your practice page first. I would like to see what you worked out."

Chapter 4The Last Two Questions

Avrumi took his page home.

The last two questions were not harder than the first two. One needed counting; the other needed reading the words carefully.

His younger brother leaned over the table.

"That looks like a chocolate bar."

"It is supposed to be a rectangle."

"It would be a good chocolate bar."

Avrumi smiled and turned the page slightly so his brother could see.

He finished both questions. Nobody had called an answer first. Nobody had called him clever, either.

The work on the page was still his.

Chapter 5A Pause at the Board

The next day, Rebbi reminded the class to raise hands and wait to be called.

He drew a new rectangle.

"Take a moment. Then hands up."

Avrumi counted. His hand rose.

Pinny's rose, too.

Rebbi looked around the room and called another boy first.

Avrumi's heart sank. Then he noticed that his own answer was still written on his small practice slate.

It had not become wrong because someone else got the turn.

He listened while the boy explained. They had counted the same shaded parts.

Chapter 6His Own Turn

For the next picture, Rebbi called Avrumi.

Avrumi suddenly wished he had kept his hand down.

The answer felt clearer in his head than in his mouth.

He looked at the rectangle again.

"Two sixths," he said.

"How did you work it out?"

Avrumi pointed. "Six equal parts altogether. Two shaded."

Rebbi nodded. "That tells us what each number means."

Pinny raised his hand to add something. This time he waited.

Avrumi sat back. His ears felt warm, but his words had reached the class.

Chapter 7The Fast Boy

At lunch, Pinny borrowed Avrumi's pencil sharpener.

"I keep forgetting to wait," he said. "The answer just jumps out."

"Mine stays in until someone calls me."

"Maybe we should trade half."

Avrumi laughed. "Only half."

In the next lesson, some questions needed more thinking. When Avrumi knew, he raised his hand. Sometimes he got a turn; sometimes another boy did.

He kept his answers on his slate either way. He no longer erased them before anyone had seen them.